HOLYOKE - Fire tore through a two-family home at 19-21 O’Connor Ave. Tuesday afternoon, resulting in significant damage to all three floors and the roof, a fire official said.

None of the residents were home at the time of the fire, but three firefighters suffered injuries battling the blaze, said Fire Department spokesman Lt. Thomas Paquin.

One firefighter burned his hand, another injured a leg, and a third was overcome by heat, he said.

All three were taken to Holyoke Medical Center for treatment, he said.

“They were taking a beating in there because it was so hot and the smoke,” he said.

The fire department was alerted by a 911 call at about 3 p.m.

Paquin said a neighbor heard a smoke detector blaring but did not call for the fire department for about 45 minutes.

When the first firefighters arrived, the fire appeared to be confined to the third floor, he said.

Fire fighters gained entry to the house and found a mattress in a third-floor bedroom on fire. As they started putting it out, he said, “fire started popping out of the walls and floors on the three floors on both sides of the house.”

The fire was under control before 4 p.m., and firefighters spent several minutes searching for remaining hot spots, he said.

Fire officials are still working to determine the cause, he said.

Anna Hight, who lives down the street from 19-21 O’Connor said she heard the sirens but did not think much of it. “In Holyoke, you hear sirens all the time,” she said.

It was not until the first fire trucks pulled in front of her house that she realized there was a fire.

When she went outside, she said there was just smoke coming out of the chimney, but soon it started pouring out the roof and the windows in the basement.

“Every time they’d break a window there would be more smoke,” she said.

The Victorian-era house, constructed in 1880, is owned by David Martinez.

Paquin said he was told two families, totaling seven people, live there.